Just a Killer Dream
by Gala Secrets
Summary: He really should have known better than to prod at Skull. No matter his temperament, the stuntman was a Cloud, and the Arcobaleno Cloud at that. TYL, part of 'Inconsistent Consistencies'. Two-shot
1. And Then There Was One

TYL

While the other Arcobaleno and Skull had a functioning relationship as colleagues, he did not necessarily trust them completely although it came close with Fon and Verde. As a result, he did not want to raise any hopes with his current project: breaking the Curse. He met with contacts among other Immortals who had been around for much longer. Several times he'd met with Lady Majeedah to bounce ideas off of while she, in turn, provided him with what information she had found. Given that she was the oldest known Immortal, it was a good bit but still not enough.

It was during one such meeting with her that the memories hit and he passed out in her foyer.

—

Ten years of normal memories slammed into him and then the chaos brought on by the Mad Sky Byakuran.

Everything came to a head with a box on the stoop of the Arcobaleno Mansion that was addressed to Skull but with no other markings. After checking the box for any number of insidious elements and deemed safe, it was brought inside for the Cloud. Up to this point, the Arcobaleno had been relying on guerrilla tactics against Byakuran's Wreaths after Lal and Colonello's near miss. This meant that all of them just so happened to be there to witness something they never thought possible.

Skull's purple eyes darkened to black with an unearthly gleam as he pulled out seventeen little jars one by one, each with an eye ball just floating in preservative liquid. Skull's Flames went still in his body before exploding. With careful, shaking hands, he placed all but one of the jars back in the box. One that was a golden-hazel that seemed to be pressed to the side of the jar instead of floating like the others. Setting the box carefully aside, he walked outside, snarl on his lips and jar in hand. His movements were predatory and combined with his glowing eyes and snarling expression, the usually docile cloud looked rather Feral. He was a Cloud filled with Rage, a Territorial Rage. The Arcobaleno were caught off guard because he had never shown any signs of having a territory so what the fuck.

"Tell Tsuna it's time to end this bullshit. Byakuran is mine." The sounds that left his lips were growled and guttural words as he stalked to his bike and left.

No one argued. Not in this state. Instead, Reborn simply passed on the message to Tsuna and they followed the trail of Raging Flames. No one noticed the Misty tint to his Cloud Flames.

Skull used the eye to point him in the right direction. He knew exactly what those jars meant the moment he saw the first one. The bastard had found the other Immortals and found a way to kill them, bypassing the Elixir. Except for his little brother Maiza. The one eye that still was trying to return to its body, unlike the others which meant they were dead. Maiza's other guardians were dead meaning that it was only him now. Just the two remaining Avaro brothers with one bordering on Discord. He snarled and let his flames spread through his bike to propagate its speed. Unacceptable.

Of course the asshole was waiting and his Flames swirled around his hands, Cloud on the right and Mist on the left.

"Where is he." The demand was snarled.

Byakuran's response? A body, a very familiar body, was tossed at his feet, missing one hazel eye. Skull froze and he watched as his brother's body did not regenerate. Next thing he knew, his hands were at Byakuran's neck with dagger claws on the left and hardened nails on the right. Then he was thrown back sans one arm, but it regenerated between the elixir and the Cloud Flames.

Mist Flames turned him into a demon, gave him weapons of war, made night terrors come to life as comrades of war, left destruction in his wake. Cloud Flames propagated his strength, his durability, the elixir in his blood, the strength of his Flames, his speed, his everything.

Byakuran laughed and grinned and smirked and taunted, using his knowledge of other worlds to shred the mind of the Cloud Arcobaleno.

"Well Little Biasio. Can't protect another brother."

A meteorite would have left a smaller crater.

So it went, destroying the world around them and Flames swirling. Skull's Flames combined to give him his adult body back, Mist supplying the illusion and grounding it while Cloud propagated the realness until it was his body. Sky flames tried to split the flames apart, to disharmonize them to break the body down, to sow Discord in the soul of the last Avaro.

Neither saw the other Arcobaleno arrive at the edge of the war zone they created. They didn't see the Wreaths, Vongola or Varia either. This resulted in the deaths of the Wreaths driving Byakuran closer to Discord and Skull pressed his advantage. He fell into his Rage completely and Byakuran started losing ground. Limbs flew and Skull's returned to his body while Byakuran was not so lucky. No one interrupted when he caved the Sky's head in.

"Tch. And here I thought you might actually manage to kill me too."

His face was anger, derision, agony, disappointment but no one was close enough to see any of it. Flames swirled and he was in his Cursed body again as he spit on the white haired corpse at his feet.

Then the world spun and all he saw was black.

—-

Startled purple eyes flew open and he gasped for breath while olivine hands smoothed his hair.

"Breathe, Biasio. You are safe."

The younger Immortal flushed. "My apologies, Majeedah."

Her eyes bored into his own. "What did you see."

He told her and then he left to check on those he called His, desperate to see for himself that all of them were safe.

—-

Author's Note:

Majeedah is a canon Baccano character that is referenced in the light novels as possibly the oldest Immortal is exist.

Each eye in a jar was for a different Immortal that Skull considered to be part of his territory. If you want a list of everyone one, let me know in PMs or reviews and I'll post it at the end of this little two-shot.


	2. Came Back Alive

The Arcobaleno are scattered when their lives are disrupted. Memories shunted into their heads without warning and leaving them unconscious to sort through the bits and pieces. The Varia and the Tenth generation are no better but for the Arcobaleno, the knowledge is earth shattering.

—

Over the years, Reborn watched Tsunayoshi and Dino chome into their own, very proud of both men that he privately considered to be like his own kids.

Viper decided to reveal themselves as Mammon the Varia Mist Officer and Mist Guardian to Xanxus. (Reborn had suspected it during the Ring Battles.)

Verde continued to push the limits of science and patented several inventions a year.

Lal took over the CEDEF then made it efficient and effective. (No one actually cared about what happened to Iemitsu.)

Colonello took over Mafia Land and used it as training grounds for those interested, outside the entertainment and resorts.

Fon still worked for the Triads.

All their memories overlapped but for Skull, who disappeared a couple years in.

(The Arcobaleno Sky wasn't there in any of them and it never bothered the Seven. And that said everything.)

Then Byakuran the Mad Sky got involved and Skull reappeared, looking frustrated but not giving them an explanation. It's called the War of Flames and the Arcobaleno fight along side the Varia and the Vongola and their Allies. Lal and Colonello had a close call that drove them to guerrilla tactics that Skull was surprisingly knowledgeable on.

Until a box arrived and hell broke loose in the form of a Cloud teetering on the edge of Rage, almost there but not quite. They all recognized it as a Territorial Rage and the fact that Skull had a territory they didn't know about was shocking. The box was filled with jars of eyes but Skull took one when he left. They didn't receive answers but they followed while called the rest of their comrades. By the time the Strongest Seven arrived, there were uprooted trees, gouges in the earth, small craters in the ground. Skull looked feral but fine while Byakuran was actually showing signs of wear already. Lips moved but the Arcobaleno were far enough away that they could not tell what was said but they saw the results. Cloud and Mist Flames (what the actual fuck, kora) swirled around Skull like an angry inferno that warped reality to his whims, to the point that he even had his adult body back.

They never knew that he had Mist Flames and they wondered what else they didn't know about their Cloud. But then the Wreaths arrived and war was fought, ending with the deaths of the Wreaths. The Seven, for the first time, felt Flame exhaustion and it was terrifying when their Cloud is still Raging and winning. And bleeding, because not once have they seen him bleed. Ever.

Then the Mad Sky was dead and Skull kicked the corpse and spat on him.

The Cloud collapsed. They panicked. Then all they knew was black.

—-

Reborn wakes and his first instinct is to check on Tsuna then the rest of the Tenth Generation. He makes phone calls to check on Dino. The hitman will admit only to himself the huge sense of relief that they are all alright. He vows to do something about that damn seal that he was never told about, too. If he gives into letting Tsuna hug him, no one says anything because everyone is in the same boat at the moment. His next order of business is to reach out to the other Arcobaleno. He'll be damned if goes any longer without contacting them. They're supposed to be a family after all this time and he will make sure all of them know that.

Viper clings to Xanxus and the rest of the Varia Guardians. They do as well, especially Xanxus. They refuse to leave their Sky and fellow Guardians alone so they send a Mist clone with each Guardian and stays by Xanxus' side no matter what. They use their contacts to check on the Arcobaleno and they are immensely relieved to hear from Reborn. The news they receive about the little lion Sky is distressing and Viper promises aid. (So do the Varia and with a lot of swearing.)

Verde wakes alone in his lab and immediately writes down all his inventions and does voice recordings when that's too slow. His next order of business is to arrange the purchase of materials that he will need. Once that is done, the scientist looks at his phone for a second. He calls two numbers, one after the other before Reborn calls him. The scientist might not say it out loud but he is thankful for Reborn calling him as well. When Reborn asks for help, he is ready to wage war if need be.

Lal and Colonello are together when the memories hit and when they wake up. Their first course of action is to reassure themselves that the other is real and that what happened is real. Both answers are yes. Before they can call the others, Reborn calls them. They reassure him everything is fine and then begin to make plans. She worked for Iemitsu and Reborn now has proof of what he did to his own son. The three of them have plans to take care of that as soon as possible. Lal makes plans for Iemitsu specifically.

When Fon comes to, he vanishes so thoroughly that the Triads think he's dead when he's actually in Japan with his apprentice and his nephew. He's the only one Reborn doesn't call because he's already there when the hitman starts calling the rest of the Arcobaleno. The Storm fields a call from the Lightning and leaves a message for the Cloud.

Skull is awake and crisscrossing the world the moment he is able. He must check his own though he knows they are all capable. However, he is disturbed by the memories and needs to check for himself because Byakuran should not have been able to kill an Immortal. It is in between everything that Reborn calls and the stuntman hears the relief in the hitman's voice when he answers. Then disbelief and anger follow when the hitman explains what he found in his new memories.

It is Reborn, however, that is shocked in the end.

"Let me talk to one of my contacts."

What the hell. Who does Skull know? Or more accurately, who the fuck is Skull?

—

Author's Note:

The way that Byakuran managed to kill the Immortals was by using his Sky Flames to cause disharmony and separate the Elixir from the rest of their bodies. Once the Elixir is separated from them, they can and will die like normal humans. Byakuran killed them just because he could.

The eyes belong to the Immortals that Skull knows.

Maiza Avaro

Firo Prochainezo

Ennis

Claire Stanfield

Chane Laforet

Sylvie Lumiere

Czeslaw Meyer

Isaac Dian

Miria Harvent

Nile

Luck Gandor

Berga Gandor

Keith Gandor

Huey Laforet

Elmer C. Albatross

Denkurō Tōgō

Begg Garott


End file.
